How Home Helps Those With Learning Disabilities
Written by Dragon Scales, HSM guest contributor
Foreword by NorseGamer:
This guest submission was written by Dragon Scales; this individual has significant learning disabilities, and does not currently have a registered account with HSM. That’s why it’s appearing on the front page under my byline instead of his.
The article that you’re about to read doesn’t technically qualify for HomeStation: it’s well below our minimum word count, and required considerable copy editing to be finalized for publication. That said, it’s such an astonishingly personal article that it is a joy to publish this.
The living, beating heart of Home is its social scene. The human interaction. And HSM has stated, from the beginning, that you have to be slightly damaged in some way to truly understand the appeal of Home. For some of us, that damage is physical; for others, it’s mental or emotional. We, all of us, carry some burden, and spend our lives either running from something or chasing after something. And virtual reality, at its best, allows people to have more fulfilling lives.
I will forward this article’s responses to the author’s e-mail address. Which also means I’m going to be monitoring these comments. HomeStation’s audience is, overwhelmingly, a great group of people – but if there are any fly-by-night yahoos out there who think it’s “lulz” to make fun of someone with disabilities, be advised that I will personally banhammer you so hard that they hear it in Uzbekistan. Unlike the Sony forum, HSM doesn’t tolerate posts which might *technically* be legal but are in obvious bad taste.
A quote which shows up repeatedly in HSM, from Lost Horizon, is a reminder of what we should all strive for in Home: “Be *kind* to one another.” And this article, from my point of view, exemplifies that. Enjoy.
This is my first attempt at writing; I hope you like it and that it leaves something of an influence on you.
Most people in Home call me Dragon. I’ve been in Home now for nine months. It’s been pretty epic indeed; I have lots of fun, particularly as I’m also a Homeling.
I have learning disabilites, I’ve had troubles on Home, and still do a little. My disabilites tend to be misunderstood; people just…learn slow at times. It gets a little frustrating, at times, in Home. Home moves so fast.
Joining Home was easy, but truly interacting with it was hard at first. I used wrong words and was frequently misunderstood as a result. For example: I once used to use the word “batter” insteed of “better” in the wrong context – I wound say, “I’m feeling batter today.”
As you can imagine, this leads to some interesting non-sequiturs: one time, I made reference to the “Creature of all Homelings” — instead of the Creator. My friends would chuckle and patiently explain to me the error, even if I didn’t quite understand them at first; so I laughed and moved forward.
Enjoy these times. Personally, I’m very blessed to have a great real life and Home life. Others are not so fortunate.
When I entered Home, I little knew how much it would change me; I believe everything has a purpose, and my purpose within Home is that I want to help people and raise awareness for people with disabilites. Sometimes we may seem slow — but that is not the case.
We are not stupid.
Temple Grandin. If you don't know who this person is, then learn.
There are smart people out there with disabilities, both in the real world and in Home. It’s a question of what you choose to do with what you’ve been given. We don’t let that disabilities slow us down. We can do what a normal person can do.
As a matter of fact, what is normal? We’re all different, and we dare not, on peril of losing our humanity, judge others against such a word as “normal.”
It’s sad the way things are: treated very harshly because we are different, having it constantly pointed out that we are slow and stupid. It used to bother me a lot; now I try to laugh about it.
I’ve been called retarded. It bothers me when I hear that word getting thrown around. Some say it without realizing what they’re saying; they try to use a different context to give the word itself a new meaning. Like saying something is “so gay,” saying something is “so retarded” is just wrong. There are so many words in the English language to use when making a disparaging comment; why choose “gay” or “retarded” instead of something more appropriate?
Maybe I’m tacking into the wind with this sentiment, but it’s important. There was a time when other inappropriate and hurtful words were used in conversation without anyone blinking an eye, but that didn’t make it right to use those words, either.
There’s something about the world of Home. Yes, it’s cyber, but in many ways it’s so close to being real. Did you know that there are parents and children interacting in Home together? It’s a far cry from how some parents treat their kids – and other adults – with learning disabilities. I know that kids hate the idea of parents trying to be cool, but as far as I’m concerned, parents who go into virtual reality and directly help their kids grow and learn from it *are* cool.
I’ll give you an example. I have two friends on Home – dizney-princess and GlowingMickeyVan – who are both great people and great parents. God bless them, and all like them.
Well, now. This was fun to do. I hope you all liked it.
March 30th, 2012 by dragonGscales | 43 comments
greetings follow friends :)
my name is dragon, i love to draw, write, play sports, be with my friends, familey and my sweet girlfriend. am a homeling, very exsiteing indeed, :) great to meet you and be on home magazine :) i hope ur day is well and be safe, bows :)
Hi Dragon Scales! So nice to see you putting out the effort to write an article for HSM, and I don’t mean because of your disability. It shows you have the strength and tenacity to say what you need to even in light of what others might put you through. I admire anyone that has the skills and intelligence to put there thoughts to words, and then on top of that, to reach out to the world to have those thoughts seen. The world is what we make of it, not what others want it to be for us. I’m no where near as skilled as you are at writing or putting my thoughts down for others to read, so I congratulate you on this feat!
I have to tell you that my disability is Fibromyalgia, (which I don’t tell many people, so please, keep that to yourself) and one of the “symptoms” of this syndrome is what they call “brain fog.” For me, that means that sometimes I will, while speaking, think of a word like…pizza, and when the word comes out of my mouth I say another word…like spoon. My mind can’t seem to get the correct word out of my mouth even if I know what the word is. So, it is very similar to what you mention you do when speaking. I can really understand your frustration because when I do it I feel like people are going to judge me. But I can tell you one thing, the small mistakes that you and I make over words are nothing compared to some of the “slang” that I hear on Home.
I have a few friends on Home with various disabilities from Aspergers to paralaysis and we all enjoy, to an extent, a certain anonimity that Home provides. But we must all understand that just because someone may not fit in to our sphere of what we think is “normal,” nobody is normal. And nobody is better than anyone else, nobody is perfect.
Again, thank you for writing such an amazing article and raising awareness in Home.
Thank you bows
hey Dragon i have to say im with you on this i to use home a lot and i have been tolled by many that i have no life or do i work or whats a girl like you doing on home..well i have a life and i work whats a girl like me doing on home it called i have high depression and anxiety.i use home when i cant deal with the real world i know i have home a world that i have made my own..
Hey Dragon, great article. I think this may be one of my favorites so far. It’s really nice to see how Home has affected you.
I had a huge reply typed, but realized that none of my words or thoughts said it as well as you did, so I decided instead to just say “Thank You”.
Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for reminding us that no matter who we are, or what our ability level is, we all really want the same things. It’s something we all need to be reminded of once in a while.
thank you
bows
Thank you, Scales, for giving us all a little insight into your impressions of Home and life. It’s a very positive thing to let others see what you see, and I’m glad that you had fun putting it together. Happy to see you published on HSM. Congrats!
thank you
Very good read. I would encourage you to continue Dragon Scales! I know it must take courage to attempt an article. You have already contributed to a wonderful team, and that makes you a good guy. Keep it up! I’ll be looking forward to more of your articles.
Thank You!
It was a pleasure to read a bit of your perspective Dragon. It’s a real testament of the equalization of Home that so many individuals who are shunned or judged in the real world find Home a place to call their own. I never really considered parents using Home in conjunction with their kids as a learning tool.
That sounds like such a uniquely modern approach to relationship building.
I could see how interacting with your child (or anyone) on an equal playing could really benefit the real world relationship. Seeing someone through the eyes of others, and without the history and baggage that life weighs them down with, can really help you see the person.
Interesting thoughts. Thanks again Dragon. It was wonderful to read your first write. I hope we get to read many more!
It takes a lot these days for something to really touch me right down to the heart, but this article, went straight there and I don’t think I’ll be the same after reading this amazing piece. I myself have some difficulties with my writing, speech and mental ability sometimes, but just like you have shown here by writing this truly honest piece- you don’t let it hold you back, and no one with any type or form of disability should do. So really, this my thanks to you personally for writing something truly meaningful in a day and age where things like this get overlooked sometimes as many do not understand. I wish you luck in both you Home life, and real one. Best wishes to you, Dragon Scales.
Awesome piece! Remember Dragon Scales,”You’ll know your friends;by who stands with you in the end.” Best wishes!!
I count both Mickey and Dizney as friends of mine, and I am amazed and gratified that you have written this piece for the magazine Dragon. I believe we have met at a few of the Homeling meetings before. Having a few autistic friends in Home as well as many with other disabilities both physical and mental or emotional, I have been able to get to know much more about these kinds of people and come to feel very blessed in the knowing. Great job in enlightening us about your Home experiences.
wow, am lost for words what to say, filled with kind and epic people \,
thank you all for your kind words, am very happy that i made a impacted on you and am very happy you like it. thank you for aprovaling the artice and thank you norsegamer for putting it on here , it was fun to do and something differt. hehehehe am very happy , am not sure what i will write next, i just thought this will be a great exprence for me and make a impacted on someone . once again thank you all and god bless 
meny smiles to all
Excellent work Norse and Dragon.I am in total agreement of this article in that 1, we are all broken. We all have a thing that haunts or vexes us. I could list mine, but then it wouldn’t be any different than anybody else’s. I also agree that the english language is a full tool box allowing the user to use a great variety of words to express a point. Sadly the people with smaller tool boxes use fewer and uglier words. The cyber world is a real world in that it does exist. I kno because we inhabit it, and it’s up to us to make it a good place. Good write, and I say this to anybody who has suffered for any reason at the hands of the cruel and evil, move forward and be brave. It may be hard sometimes, but a turtle only advances when it sticks it’s neck out.
A quick p.s. The reference to “smaller tool boxes” is intended to reflect the mean people with ignorant minds, and cruel tongues.
Dragon, you continue to make the Collective proud
*bows*
ty nos, its a honor
the homelings or the collective has a big part, i have so meny epic friends, 
Dragon…it has been awesome having you as one of my true friends. Your the same every day. Your refreshing. You are the only person I know who refuses to place Dis in the your ability.
Hugs to you and I’m honored you choice me as a friend.
Littlepeddler
ty LP
hugs back to ya, 
am haveing trouble, am signed up with HSM but am a guest, ok am confused, lol
nm i had some friends exspian
hehe
Loved this article Dragon, inspiring read and as a general in the Homeling Collective you make us proud. This is truely what Home is about IMHO!
ty sir bows
Thank you for going through with this, Dragon. I know it was a lot of work. And then there was the suspense of waiting to see if it had been accepted. But if you don’t put yourself out there and write something, you KNOW it won’t appear. Excellent article. Congratulations!
As a friend of mine frequently reminds me, “The ‘no’ you already have. If you ask, you might just get the ‘yes’.”
For those of you who don’t know Dragon, he was recently promoted to the rank of Chief Subcommander for his MotherShip. That is higher than many normally-abled Homelings ever rise. Dragon’s courage and effort are an inspiration to us all.
ty seal bows
Dragon, I am so extremely proud of you! I’m so glad you came to me that day and said that you wanted to write but needed help with an idea. You took that idea and once again, made everyone that knows you and those that are just meeting you, very humbled.
Congratulations on the publication of your article and thanks to Norse for editing and publishing. You’re one of the people that make Home so welcoming to all of us. *Bows*
Hi Dragon,
Great read and article. Keep up the good work! I have just started writing for HSM too and it feels so nice to see my articles published, so I know how you feel. Hope to meet you some day on Home!! Keep going!!!
If writing is a true window to the soul, then yours is a very noble soul indeed, Dragon.
One of the most brilliant aspects of Home is that we are not ourselves as we are in the real world. There are no eyes to look at our bodies, our clothes, our manner of moving or our accents and form biased conclusions on who a person is or what they can do.
This is a uniquely liberating experience, and it seems to bring out two extremes, with most of us somewhere in the middle: Those who are unselfishly and kindly themselves, freed from the fear of vulnerability that sometimes stops us from acting in the real world, and those who deliberately misrepresent themselves with an eye toward being something they believe they cannot be in daily life.
Personally, I’d rather be with the people who are themselves, no matter where they come from or who they are. That shows a deep-rooted confidence in one’s self that’s always a joy to be around.
Thank you Dragon for this wonderful article. I believe that for every bad person in the world (and on-line) there are two good people, and I would put you in the latter catalog. I hope you write more!
That was awesome Dragon… very truthful and very meaningful
You did an awesome job.
i sit here proud of you dragon
happy tears roll down knowing how far you have come my friend words leave me speechless i look foreword to more thoughts from your world 
Bows
LINGS RULE ~!!
Hey Great Job Dragon. As others have said many times and I am in complete agreement; You are a Great Friend, Wonderful Person and Epic Ling. I am lucky to have the pleasure of having you as a true friend. A wise man once said Remember Yesterday, Dream of Tommorow, but Live for Today. Never let the trolls of life destroy your dreams. *bows*
ty clay
indeed
Woot! Go dragon! Glad you wrote. Sorry so late on the comment. I prefer tothink of you as an honest person rather than a disabled one. As you know, my son is autistic, so I cherish the honest side of disability. My son isnt scared to be himself, and thats what makes him special. Just like you. And your a lot of fun to be around. Those who throw the retarded word around are just those who havent experienced the joys of the presence of truely exceptional beings. They are missing out on a side of life free of the falsehoods that make people the ugly creatures that some are. I wouldnt give them the time they didnt deserve in the first place. As you said… Just move on. In the grand scheme of things your enjoying your life, so who cares what they think? Be you. People lose track of the true meaning of home which is fun and games. Its a social world. And juat like in the real world there are those who hate life, and those who love it. Be the latter of the two.
Oh and…. SMACK! Hehehe
its ok mickey, ty so much my friend,
, i put my heart into this, am not sure what i cound right next but this one was more than just doing this but reaching out to the hearts that listion, am very happy this made a impacted 
oooobtw smake bac, lol
Great job, Dragon!
I really enjoyed your article. The part about using the wrong words disparagingly got me to thinking. I’m really glad you wrote this article.
Farewell!
*Bows*
I read your article and have found it truly inspiring. I have aspergers syndrome, or to be less specific autism. I found PlayStation home to be a great tool to use to socialize with people, as in RL it is hard for people of my disability, or any disability for that matter to make friends. Like you, I have been called retarded, in my opinion to call someone retarded is just as bad as calling someone who is African-American the N-word, it a derogatory term used to insult someone who is different and that them being different is a bad thing. A person with a disability can be very intelligent, for example my IQ is 140, which is 20 above the average range: 80-120, you yourself with your disability have shown considerable intelligence and certainly more integrity than the average person. I wasn’t diagnosed properly until age 15 when I tried to kill myself in-front of my geography class and was observed for 2 weeks. since then i have grown so fast, having understood myself more than before, to see how I am different. For all those who don’t know me, I am a member of the homelings as well ^_^ and have found the homelings to be exceptional in comparison to all other groups of people on home.
dragon its karma this touched my heart so much i cryed …. i am on home with dragon as well and i to have disabilities mental emotional and physical and seeing how dragon put this is so true real and perfect… and with the parents thing i think thats the best way especially for kids who dont get to see there parents often.. home is a great place for learning and making friends with out being judged on the littlest things like clothes money looks etc its on who you are…and it does get frustrating at first trying to be understood and understand things and words as well as having to deal with people who like to throw words around that isnt the true meaning of that word n not thinking how hurtful it really is… its bad enough we hear it in the real world this virtual world like a safe haven for people to be them true selfs.
Woot What an inspirational article Dragon. Well done my friend. Keep making home a positive place for us all .
Dragon, you are truly a wonderful person. In just the little amount of time I have known you on Home, you have already had a positive impact on me. I am glad to have met you.
Keep being you, Dragonling!